Speech: EU Head Of Delegation For The Pacific

Delivered By Ambassador Wiepke Van Der
GootEU Head Of Delegation For The
Pacific

Celebration Ceremony Of Fiji's
Re-ListingIn The EU Approved List Of Third Countries To
Export Their Fisheries Products On The EU Market At The
Holiday Inn, Suva, 18 March 2011[Check Against
Delivery]

• The Hon. Minister of Health, Dr. Neil
Sharma• Permanent Secretary of Health, Dr. Salanieta
Saketa• Permanent Secretary of Fisheries, Commander
Viliame Naupoto• Mr. Jope Tamani and the officials of
the Food Unit in the MoH.• Officials from the Ministry
of Industry and Trade• Representatives of the Fishing
Industries• Colleagues of the Diplomatic
Corps• Distinguished guests• Ladies and
Gentlemen

Good evening, Ni Sa Bula and Namaste!

Thank
you very much for inviting me here tonight, to officially
celebrate the relisting of Fiji in the EU approved list of
countries able to export their fishery products on to the EU
market.

Not only Fijians, but also Europeans like fish, in
fact Europeans are big consumers of fishery products with a
per capita consumption of 25 Kg per year on average, making
the EU the biggest importer of fish in the world with a
total market of around 500 million consumers. In fact, no
less than 60 % of EU's required fishing products come from
third countries.

Please allow me to tell you a little on
the background of how it came that Fiji was delisted and is
now relisted again.

First of all, in order to safeguard
the quality of imported products and at the same time
preserving and sustaining the exploitation of seafood
resources, the EU has developed it own Common Fisheries
Policy.

Within this policy, the EU legislation on food
safety plays an important role in order to ensure a high
level of food safety for EU citizens.

Therefore you will
not be surprised that the EU has set strict rules regarding
the quality of imported products covering the conditions of
fishery products originated from third countries.

These
rules specify that any fishery product entering into the EU
market must be: 1) originated from an EU approved third
country, and 2) come from an EU approved establishment and
3) be accompanied by an appropriate health certificate.

In
2004, we noted for the first time that something was wrong
with tuna originating from Fiji, as mercury was found in
some tuna loins. 3 years later, in 2007, several people in
France fell seriously ill after eating tuna originating from
Fiji. Consequently an EU inspection team visited Fiji and
found out that Fiji, unfortunately, was far from complying
with the requirements I just mentioned.

The inspection
team identified serious deficiencies in respect of the
standards being applied by the Fisheries Competent Authority
while most of the fishing vessels and establishments failed
to meet the EU requirements. Adequate standards for fish
products export were lacking and the sanitary quality was
not guaranteed.

Therefore, as serious risks for
consumers' health could not be excluded when consuming
fisheries project coming from Fiji, Fiji was banned from
exporting fish onto the EU market.

However, ladies and
gentlemen, thanks to the hard and persistent work of few
dedicated people, Fiji has now reversed this situation and
is now eligible again to export fish products to the EU.

It is no mean feat that all this has been done within
a time span of only 3 years. Something that, in my view, is
remarkable and that definitely merits
congratulations.Therefore, I believe we should commend
the Fiji authorities, the Competent Authority and in
particular Mr. Jope Tamani and the Food Unit team for this
outstanding performance. All this has only been possible
thanks to the dedication and tireless work of Mr. Tamani and
his team and some of the leaders in the fishing industry..
Congratulations Ladies and gentlemen!At the same time, I
am happy to say, that we were able to provide some
assistance through the EU SFP Programme for fisheries in the
person of Dr John Esser, followed by several other short
term Technical Assistance missions and the provision of some
cars and lab equipment.Furthermore I would like to
acknowledge the assistance from the Applied Sciences
Laboratory as well as the support given by several
Government Ministries (in casu, Health, Fisheries and the
Trade department of Foreign Affairs). With their joint
efforts, Fiji is now back on the list and is able to export
fisheries products to the EU again and can Europeans enjoy
again the fine fish coming from Fiji. I will be looking
forward eating Fiji sashimi, when going back to
Europe!

Ladies and gentlemen, this result should now
encourage Fiji to take full advantage of the possibilities
of global sourcing under the Market Access Regulation or –
even better – under the interim EPA by notifying the EU
about its implementation.

Finally, as only 2 companies
meet EU standards so far, I would like to encourage the
fishing industry to continue with the upgrading of the
fisheries export facilities and to increase the number of
approved fishing vessels, as this would further enhance the
economic development of Fiji.

Ladies and Gentlemen!
Today, we are witnessing some great strides in the upgrading
of the fishing industry in Fiji. From our side we are
pleased to have been one of the partners in this challenging
and, in the end, a very rewarding venture.

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